And That's What Is Wrong with TV Sitcoms in 2017...

So "Will and Grace" are back and I, for one, will never piss on the return of any multi-camera TV situation comedy because I feel the format is much and inappropriately maligned.  Truly, the energy is much more evident when actors are playing for that laugh in front of 250 or so people perched on bleachers.  It just works and always has.  

But...

The season premiere of "W and G" also pointed out to me another problem we have with TV sitcoms in 2017, regardless of how they are filmed.   There is now a gaping lack of staying power and it makes me wonder what classics people will be growing up with in twenty years.

Oh, don't get me wrong.   I got some nice laughs out of "W and G" Season 9, Episode 1.  It all came back 11 years later just as it had left.  Personally, I still feel a little of Sean Hayes and Debra Messing go a long way, but, overall, it was a diverting and amusing way to spend a half hour.   

But...

I couldn't help but notice the overly self-conscious emphasis on politics that made this all come off more like a SNL sketch than an episode of a sitcom. Now, don't get wrong.   I like a good Trump joke like everything else.   But this all became politically overwrought and climaxed with a pillow fight in the Oval Office.   

After this ultimate disappointment, I stayed on the NBC channel to sample some dreadful single camera sitcom called "Great News" which now includes the talents of Tina Fey.   Within the first five minutes, there were so many current event references that the whole show was effectively dated by 10PM.

It made me wonder just how misguided and flawed this approach is.  TV sitcom reduced to candy bar status.   You enjoy it but forget you had it almost immediately.  Didn't a show like "Murphy Brown" learn this lesson the hard way?   Not to discount how good a vehicle that was, but their over emphasis on Dan Quayle jokes resulted in virtually zero lasting power.   It is impossible to find Murphy reruns today and the DVD sales stopped at Season 1.  Because...25 years later...nobody cares about Dan Quayle jokes any more.

But that's the main issue with TV sitcoms in 2017.   Personally, I only watch two of them..."The Big Bang Theory" and "The Middle."   Both are mainly focused on familiar situations and identifiable characters.   That's what I crave.  And that's what is watched generation after generation.

I have become addicted to Hulu for that very reason.   They have the lion's share of the classic sitcoms (most shot in front of the dreaded live studio audience) which are, in some cases, forty, fifty, or sixty years old.

"I Love Lucy."

"Seinfeld."

"The Golden Girls."

"Mary Tyler Moore."

All versions of Bob Newhart.

"Everybody Loves Raymond."

"The Dick Van Dyke Show."

"Frasier."

Meanwhile, two of the most played sitcoms on streaming services are  "Cheers"
and "Friends."

The common denominator above, despite being funny, is that the shows all stayed largely away from current events and political references.   As a result, they are still viewed today because they are all fabulous examples of a way in which somebody can escape from current events and politics for 30 or so minutes.

Even, our own little project called "Here To There" is designed as a tribute to all of the above.  Timeless.  Well crafted.  Funny.   Indeed, in the thirteen episodes we have written to date, there was one...count 'em...current reference.   We made an Obamacare joke.

It has been removed.   As it should be.

So there.

Dinner last night:  Teriyaki stir fry vegetables.